Apparatus and method for providing top view image of parking space

ABSTRACT

An apparatus and method for providing a top view image of a parking space are provided. The apparatus includes a steering angle sensor that measures a steering angle of a vehicle, a top view image generator that generates a top view image of a parking space depending on travel of the vehicle, a display that displays the top view image generated by the top view image generator, and a controller that captures the top view image displayed by the display and generates a panorama top view image by connecting the current top view image generated by the top view image generator and the captured previous top view image, based on the steering angle measured by the steering angle sensor.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

The present application claims priority to and the benefit of KoreanPatent Application No. 10-2019-0112296, filed on Sep. 10, 2019, which isincorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to a technology for providing a top viewimage of a parking space found by a parking assistance system of avehicle.

BACKGROUND

The statements in this section merely provide background informationrelated to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art.

In general, an apparatus for providing a top view image of a parkingspace operates in conjunction with a parking assistance system of avehicle to display a top view image of a certain limited area (e.g., anarea within a distance of 3 m to 4 m from the host vehicle) asillustrated in FIG. 1. At this time, as the vehicle slowly movesforward, an image of a parking space taken by a plurality of cameras ischanged, and the top view image is also changed correspondingly.

The apparatus for providing the top view image of the parking spacedisplays an icon 11 in an empty parking place on the currently displayedtop view image to inform a user that the user can park in the emptyparking place, and because the apparatus cannot directly display, inempty parking places not included in the current top view image (theempty parking places included in the previous top view image), icons forinforming the user that the user can park in the empty parking places,the apparatus displays icons 12 in directions toward the empty parkingplaces to inform the user that the empty parking places are present.

The apparatus for providing the top view image of the parking spaceprovides only a top view image of a parking space at the present timeand fails to provide a top view image of a parking space at the previoustime, and therefore a user cannot select an empty parking place on theprevious top view image.

SUMMARY

An aspect of the present disclosure provides an apparatus and method forproviding a top view image of a parking space, in which the apparatusand method captures a top view image of a parking space on a path alongwhich a vehicle travels, and provides a panorama top view image byconnecting the current top view image and the previous top view imagebased on a steering angle depending on the travel of the vehicle,thereby enabling a user to freely select not only an empty parking placeon the current top view image but also an empty parking place on theprevious top view image.

The technical problems to be solved by the present disclosure are notlimited to the aforementioned problems, and any other technical problemsnot mentioned herein will be clearly understood from the followingdescription by those skilled in the art to which the present disclosurepertains. Also, it will be easily understood that the aspects andadvantages of the present disclosure can be accomplished by the meansset forth in the appended claims and combinations thereof.

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, an apparatus forproviding a top view image of a parking space includes a steering anglesensor that measures a steering angle of a vehicle, a top view imagegenerator that generates a top view image of a parking space dependingon travel of the vehicle, a display that displays the top view imagegenerated by the top view image generator, and a controller thatcaptures the top view image displayed by the display and generates apanorama top view image by connecting the current top view imagegenerated by the top view image generator and the captured previous topview image, based on the steering angle measured by the steering anglesensor.

The controller may apply shading to the captured top view image of thepanorama top view image. The controller may divide the captured top viewimage into a plurality of areas and may differently shade the pluralityof areas.

The controller may control the display to display the generated panoramatop view image.

The apparatus may further include a motion detection sensor that detectsa movement around an empty parking place, and the controller may controlthe display to additionally display a warning icon at a position on thepanorama top view image that corresponds to the empty parking placearound which the movement is detected by the motion detection sensor.

The controller may store the captured top view image in storage. Thecontroller may delete the top view image stored in the storage when alifetime of the top view image stored in the storage exceeds criticaltime.

According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a method forproviding a top view image of a parking space includes measuring asteering angle depending on travel of a vehicle, generating a top viewimage of a parking space depending on the travel of the vehicle,displaying the generated top view image, capturing the displayed topview image, and generating a panorama top view image by connecting thegenerated current top view image and the captured previous top viewimage, based on the measured steering angle.

The generating of the panorama top view image may include applyingshading to the captured top view image of the panorama top view image.The applying of the shading may include dividing the captured top viewimage into a plurality of areas and differently shading the plurality ofareas.

The method may further include displaying the generated panorama topview image, detecting a movement around an empty parking place, anddisplaying a warning icon at a position on the panorama top view imagethat corresponds to the empty parking place around which the movement isdetected.

The method may further include storing the captured top view image anddeleting the stored top view image when a lifetime of the stored topview image exceeds critical time.

Further areas of applicability will become apparent form the descriptionprovided herein. It should be understood that the description andspecific examples are intended for purposes of illustration only and arenot intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.

DRAWINGS

In order that the disclosure may be well understood, there will now bedescribed various forms thereof, given by way of example, referencebeing made to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is an exemplary view illustrating a general top view image of aparking space;

FIG. 2 is a view illustrating a configuration of an apparatus forproviding a top view image of a parking space in one form of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 3 is a view illustrating a detailed configuration of a top viewimage generator included in the apparatus for providing the top viewimage of the parking space in one form of the present disclosure;

FIG. 4 is an exemplary view illustrating a panorama top view imagegenerated by the apparatus for providing the top view image of theparking space in one form of the present disclosure;

FIGS. 5A and 5B are exemplary views illustrating a process of generatinga panorama top view image by the apparatus for providing the top viewimage of the parking space ain one form of the present disclosure;

FIG. 6 is a view illustrating a state in which a display of theapparatus for providing the top view image of the parking space displaysa panorama top view image in one form of the present disclosure;

FIG. 7 is a view illustrating another example of a panorama top viewimage generated by the apparatus for providing the top view image of theparking space in one form of the present disclosure;

FIG. 8 is another exemplary view illustrating a process of generating apanorama top view image by the apparatus for providing the top viewimage of the parking space in one form of the present disclosure;

FIG. 9 is a view illustrating position information of an empty parkingplace represented by the apparatus for providing the top view image ofthe parking space in one form of the present disclosure;

FIGS. 10A and 10B are views illustrating states in which the display ofthe apparatus for providing the top view image of the parking spacedisplays a warning icon on a panorama top view image in one form of thepresent disclosure;

FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating a method for providing a top viewimage of a parking space in one form of the present disclosure; and

FIG. 12 is a block diagram illustrating a computing system for executingthe method for providing the top view image of the parking space in oneform of the present disclosure.

The drawings described herein are for illustration purposes only and arenot intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure in any way.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following description is merely exemplary in nature and is notintended to limit the present disclosure, application, or uses. Itshould be understood that throughout the drawings, correspondingreference numerals indicate like or corresponding parts and features.

Hereinafter, some forms of the present disclosure will be described indetail with reference to the exemplary drawings. In adding the referencenumerals to the components of each drawing, it should be noted that theidentical or equivalent component is designated by the identical numeraleven when they are displayed on other drawings. Further, in describingsome forms of the present disclosure, a detailed description ofwell-known features or functions will be ruled out in order not tounnecessarily obscure the gist of the present disclosure.

In describing some forms of the present disclosure, terms such as first,second, “A”, “B”, (a), (b), and the like may be used. These terms aremerely intended to distinguish one component from another component, andthe terms do not limit the nature, sequence or order of the components.Unless otherwise defined, all terms used herein, including technical orscientific terms, have the same meanings as those generally understoodby those skilled in the art to which the present disclosure pertains.Such terms as those defined in a generally used dictionary are to beinterpreted as having meanings equal to the contextual meanings in therelevant field of art, and are not to be interpreted as having ideal orexcessively formal meanings unless clearly defined as having such in thepresent application.

FIG. 2 is a view illustrating a configuration of an apparatus forproviding a top view image of a parking space in some forms of thepresent disclosure.

As illustrated in FIG. 2, the apparatus 100 for providing the top viewimage of the parking space in some forms of the present disclosure mayinclude an input device 10, a top view image generator 20, a display 30,storage 40, a motion detection sensor 50, a steering angle sensor 60,and a controller 70. The components may be combined together to form oneentity, or some of the components may be omitted, depending on a way ofcarrying out the apparatus 100 for providing the top view image of theparking space in some forms of the present disclosure.

The components will be described below in detail. The input device 10may receive, from a user, an input of a command to display a top viewimage of the current parking space or an input of a command to display apanorama top view image.

The input device 10 may receive the user's request in various ways suchas a touch on a screen, a button input, and the like. The input device10 may receive a swipe for moving the screen, as the touch on thescreen.

The top view image generator 20 may be equipped in a vehicle and maygenerate a top view image of a parking space using a two-dimensionalimage of the parking space that is taken by a plurality of cameras.Hereinafter, a detailed configuration of the top view image generator 20will be described with reference to FIG. 3. However, the top view imagegenerator 20 is not necessarily limited thereto.

FIG. 3 is a view illustrating a detailed configuration of the top viewimage generator included in the apparatus for providing the top viewimage of the parking space in some forms of the present disclosure.

As illustrated in FIG. 3, the top view image generator 20 included inthe apparatus 100 for providing the top view image of the parking spacein some forms of the present disclosure may include a camera 110, aground feature point detector 120, a first attitude angle estimationdevice 130, a first rotational transformation device 140, a linedetector 150, a second attitude angle estimation device 160, a secondrotational transformation device 170, and an image synthesizing device180.

The camera 110 includes a left camera 112 attached to a lower end of aleft side mirror of the vehicle, a right camera 114 attached to a lowerend of a right side mirror of the vehicle, a front camera 116 attachedto the front of the vehicle, and a rear camera 118 attached to the rearof the vehicle.

The left camera 112 takes an image of the ground on a left side of thevehicle and generates a left image I_(left) on a frame-by-frame basis,and the right camera 14 takes an image of the ground on a right side ofthe vehicle and generates a right image I_(right) on a frame-by-framebasis.

The front camera 116 takes an image of the ground ahead of the vehicleand generates a front image I_(front) on a frame-by-frame basis, and therear camera 118 takes an image of the ground behind the vehicle andgenerates a rear image I_(back) on a frame-by-frame basis.

The ground feature point detector 120 detects a ground feature pointP_(ground) and a translation vector of the ground feature pointP_(ground) on a frame-by-frame basis from at least one image from whichthe ground feature point P_(ground) is detectable, among the left imageI_(left) provided from the left camera 112, the right image I_(right)provided from the right camera 114, the front image I_(front) providedfrom the front camera 116, and the rear image I_(back) provided from therear camera 118. Here, the image from which the ground feature pointP_(ground) is detectable may include the left image or the right image.

An optical flow based feature point extraction algorithm, such as theblock matching method, the Horn-Schunck algorithm, the Lucas-Kanadealgorithm, the Gunnar Farneback's algorithm, or the like, may be used asa method for detecting the ground feature point P_(ground) and thetranslation vector of the ground feature point P_(ground) from the leftimage or the right image. The algorithms are well-known technologies,and therefore detailed descriptions thereabout will be omitted.

The first attitude angle estimation device 130 estimates first attitudeangles of the left camera 112 and the right camera 114, based on theground feature point P_(ground) and the translation vector of the groundfeature point P_(ground) that are input from the ground feature pointdetector 120, and generates a transformation matrix [M₁] that representsthe estimated first attitude angles in a matrix form.

The first rotational transformation device 140 generates a first topview image by performing rotational transformation of the left imageI_(left) and the right image I_(right), based on the transformationmatrix [M₁] that is input from the first attitude angle estimationdevice 130. Here, the first top view image includes a left top viewimage TI_(LEFT) obtained by performing rotational transformation of theleft image I_(left) using the transformation matrix [M₁] and a right topview image TI_(right) obtained by performing rotational transformationof the right image I_(right) using the transformation matrix [M₁].

The line detector 150 detects a first parking line P_(line1) from theleft top view image TI_(LEFT) and the right top view image TI_(RIGHT)that are input from the first rotational transformation device 140.Here, the first parking line P_(line1) includes a left parking linedetected from the left top view image TI_(LEFT) and a right parking linedetected from the right top view image TI_(RIGHT).

A line detection algorithm may be used as a method for detecting theleft parking line and the right parking line from the left top viewimage TI_(LEFT) and the right top view image TI_(RIGHT). However, thepresent disclosure is not characterized by the line detection algorithm,and therefore detailed description thereabout will be omitted.Furthermore, a technology for obtaining not only a line but alsoline-related information, such as the thickness and direction of theline, through the line detection algorithm is well known, and thereforedetailed description thereabout will be omitted.

The line detector 150 detects a second parking line P_(line2), which isconnected to the first parking line P_(line1), from the front imageI_(front) and the rear image I_(back) that are input from the camera110. Here, the second parking line P_(line2) includes an upper parkingline detected from the front image I_(front) and a lower parking linedetected from the rear image I_(back).

The second attitude angle estimation device 160 estimates secondattitude angles of the front camera 116 and the rear camera 118, basedon a correspondence relation between a feature pattern of the firstparking line P_(line1) and a feature pattern of the second parking lineP_(line2) that are input from the line detector 150, and generates atransformation matrix [M₂] that represents the estimated second attitudeangles in a matrix form.

The second rotational transformation device 170 generates a second topview image by performing rotational transformation of the front imageI_(front) and the rear image I_(back) using the transformation matrix[M₂] that is input from the second attitude angle estimation device 160.Here, the second top view image includes a front top view imageTI_(FRONT) obtained by performing rotational transformation of the frontimage I_(front) using the transformation matrix [M₂] and a rear top viewimage TI_(BACK) obtained by performing rotational transformation of therear image I_(back) using the transformation matrix [M₂].

The image synthesizing device 180 generates the final top view image bysynthesizing the first top view image TI_(LEFT) and TI_(RIGHT) inputfrom the first rotational transformation device 140 and the second topview image TI_(FRONT) and TI_(BACK) input from the second rotationaltransformation device 170.

The above-described configuration of the top view image generator 20 ismerely illustrative, and the present disclosure is not characterized bythe technology for generating the top view image. Accordingly, anywell-known technology may be used.

The display 30 displays a top view image of a parking space that isgenerated by the top view image generator 20. At this time, the top viewimage of the parking space may further include a warning icon.

The display 30 may display a panorama top view image in which thecurrent top view image and the previous top view image of a parkingspace are connected.

The display 30 may include at least one of a liquid crystal display(LCD), a thin film transistor-liquid crystal display (TFF LCD), anorganic light-emitting diode (OLED) display, a flexible display, athree-dimensional (3D) display, and/or an e-ink display.

The storage 40 may store various types of logic, algorithms, andprograms that are required in a process of capturing a top view image ofa parking space on a path along which the vehicle travels and providinga panorama top view image in which the current top view image and theprevious top view image are connected, based on a steering angledepending on the travel of the vehicle.

The storage 40 may store a top view image of a parking space that iscaptured by the controller 70.

The storage 40 may include at least one type of storage medium amongmemories of a flash memory type, a hard disk type, a micro type, and acard type (e.g., a secure digital (SD) card or an eXtream digital (XD)card) and memories of a random access memory (RAM) type, a static RAM(SRAM) type, a read-only memory (ROM) type, a programmable ROM (PROM)type, an electrically erasable PROM (EEPROM) type, a magnetic RAM (MRAM)type, a magnetic disk type, and an optical disk type.

The motion detection sensor 50 is mounted on the rear, right, or leftside of the vehicle and detects a movement around an empty parkingplace. That is, the motion detection sensor 50 may detect a vehicleapproaching the empty parking place and may detect a vehicle leaving theparking place.

The motion detection sensor 50 may include at least one of an ultrasonicsensor, a rear camera, and/or radar.

The steering angle sensor 60 measures a steering angle depending ontravel of the vehicle.

The controller 70 performs overall control to enable the components tonormally perform functions thereof. The controller 70 may be implementedin a hardware or software form, or may be implemented in a form in whichhardware and software are combined. The controller 70 may preferably beimplemented with, but is not limited to, a microprocessor.

The controller 70 may capture a top view image of a parking space on apath along which the vehicle travels and may provide a panorama top viewimage in which the current top view image and the previous top viewimage are connected, based on a steering angle depending on the travelof the vehicle. At this time, the controller 70 may operate inconjunction with the parking assistance system of the vehicle to capturethe top view image of the parking space on the path along which thevehicle travels.

The controller 70 may control the display 30 to display a top view imageof a parking space that is generated by the top view image generator 20.The top view image displayed by the display 30 is a real-time image asillustrated in FIG. 1.

The controller 70 may capture the top view image of the parking spacethat is displayed by the display 30 and may store the captured image inthe storage 40. When the lifetime of the top view image stored in thestorage 40 exceeds critical time (e.g., five minutes, ten minutes, orthe like) or the vehicle moves a critical distance (e.g., 30 m or 50 m),the controller 70 may determine that there is no validity and may deletethe top view image stored in the storage 40. That is, the controller 70may delete top view images that have been stored for the critical timeor more among top view images stored in the storage 40.

The controller 70 may generate a panorama top view image as illustratedin FIG. 4, by sequentially connecting previous top view images stored inthe storage 40, based on the current top view image generated in realtime by the top view image generator 20.

FIG. 4 is an exemplary view illustrating a panorama top view imagegenerated by the apparatus for providing the top view image of theparking space in some forms of the present disclosure.

In FIG. 4, reference numeral 410 denotes a top view image of a parkingspace that is provided in real time from the top view image generator20, and reference numeral 420 denotes the previous top view imagecaptured by the controller 70. Reference numeral 420 represents a statein which a plurality of top view images captured are connected.

The controller 70 may shade the captured previous top view image toincrease visibility. For example, the controller 70 may apply 20%shading to an area 421 as a first step and may apply 50% shading to anarea 422 as a second step. The number of areas to which shading isapplied and the percentage of the shading may be varied depending on adesigner's intention. The controller 70 may display the shaded panoramatop view image on the navigation map.

Hereinafter, a process in which the controller 70 generates(synthesizes) a panorama top view image will be described in detail withreference to FIGS. 5A and 5B.

FIG. 5A and 5B are exemplary views illustrating a process of generatinga panorama top view image by the apparatus for providing the top viewimage of the parking space in some forms of the present disclosure.

In FIG. 5A, H_(p) denotes the current top view image, and H_(p-1)denotes the previous top view image. The sizes of the top view imagesare the same as the size of a screen of the display 30.

The controller 70 may generate a panorama top view image by connectingthe previous top view image H_(p-1) to the current top view image H_(p).

However, although the next top view image H_(p-1) is generated after thefirst top view image H_(p-2), the current top view image H_(p) mayoverlap the previous top view image H_(p-1) as illustrated in FIG. 5B.The first top view image H_(p-2) and the next top view image H_(p-1) arecaptured images, and the current top view image H_(p) is an imageprovided in real time.

In this case, because the current top view image H_(p) is a base, apanorama top view image is generated by cutting a portion of theprevious top view image H_(p-1) that overlaps the current top view imageH_(p) and sequentially connecting the remaining top view image H_(p-1)and the first top view image H_(p-2) to the current top view imageH_(p).

The controller 70 may adjust the length of the panorama top view image.That is, the controller 70 may adjust the size of the panorama top viewimage displayed on the display 30.

The controller 70 may control the display 30 to display the panorama topview image as illustrated in FIG. 6.

FIG. 6 is a view illustrating a state in which the display of theapparatus for providing the top view image of the parking space displaysa panorama top view image in some forms of the present disclosure.

As illustrated in FIG. 6, the display 30 displays directions ofavailable parking spaces with arrows on a top view image of a partialparking space to inform a driver of empty parking places that are notdisplayed, but the display 30 does not display the arrows on a panoramatop view image because the empty parking places are displayed on thepanorama top view image.

Meanwhile, the controller 70 may additionally generate positioninformation of an empty parking place on a top view image generated bythe top view image generator 20.

FIG. 7 is a view illustrating another example of a panorama top viewimage generated by the apparatus for providing the top view image of theparking space in some forms of the present disclosure.

As illustrated in FIG. 7, the panorama top view image generated by theapparatus for providing the top view image of the parking space in someforms of the present disclosure has a form in which a top view image 710of a parking space that is provided in real time from the top view imagegenerator 20 and previous top view images 721 and 722 captured by thecontroller 70 are connected.

The controller 70 may shade the captured previous top view images toincrease visibility. For example, the controller 70 may apply 20%shading to the area 721 as a first step and may apply 50% shading to thearea 722 as a second step. The number of areas to which shading isapplied and the percentage of the shading may be varied depending on thedesigner's intention. The controller 70 may display the shaded panoramatop view image on the navigation map.

Hereinafter, a process in which the controller 70 generates(synthesizes) a panorama top view image will be described in detail withreference to FIG. 8.

FIG. 8 is another exemplary view illustrating a process of generating apanorama top view image by the apparatus for providing the top viewimage of the parking space in some forms of the present disclosure.

As illustrated in FIG. 8, H_(p) denotes the current top view image,H_(p-1) denotes the previous top view image, and H_(p-2) denotes the topview image right before H_(p-1). The current top view image overlaps theprevious top view image because the vehicle turns to the right.

Accordingly, the controller 70 may generate a panorama top view image byconnecting the current top view image H_(p) and the previous top viewimages H_(p-1) and H_(p-2), based on the steering angle measured by thesteering angle sensor 60. At this time, the controller 70 may use thepanorama image generation technology that is a well-known and commontechnology.

FIG. 9 is a view illustrating position information of an empty parkingplace represented by the apparatus for providing the top view image ofthe parking space in some forms of the present disclosure.

In FIG. 9, xc denotes the longitudinal axis of a vehicle, yc denotes thelateral axis of the vehicle, oc denotes the center of the rear axle ofthe vehicle as a reference point (0, 0), θ denotes the angle (°) of anempty parking place from the xc axis, and ω denotes a steering angle.

Accordingly, the position coordinates of the empty parking place may berepresented by (x, y, θ). In the case where the empty parking place islocated on a left side of the vehicle, the position coordinatesrepresent the position of the upper left corner of the empty parkingplace, and in the case where the empty parking place is located on aright side of the vehicle, the position coordinates represent theposition of the upper right corner of the empty parking place.Furthermore, x is the x-coordinate based on the xc-yc axes, and the unitof the distance is centimeter (cm). y is the y-coordinate based on thexc-yc axes, and the unit of the distance is centimeter (cm). Forexample, when x is 50, it means that the empty parking place is spacedapart from the xc axis by 50 cm.

In addition, based on a movement around an empty parking place that islocated on a rear side, a right side, or a left side of the vehicle anddetected by the motion detection sensor 50, the controller 70 maycontrol the display 30 to additionally display a warning icon 1001 onthe empty parking place in a panorama top view image. At this time, thetop view image displayed by the display 30 is as illustrated in FIGS.10A and 10B.

FIGS. 10A and 10B are views illustrating states in which the display ofthe apparatus for providing the top view image of the parking spacedisplays a warning icon on a panorama top view image in some forms ofthe present disclosure.

As illustrated in FIGS. 10A and 10B, the areas represented by P on thepanorama top view image are empty parking places, and when a movement isdetected around a specific empty parking place, the controller 70controls the display 30 to display the warning icon 1001 on the specificempty parking place.

The empty parking place having the warning icon 1001 displayed thereonis a space that a driver needs to identify, and before parking in theempty parking place on which the warning icon 1001 is displayed, thedriver necessarily has to identify the empty parking place. When aparking path to the empty parking place having the warning icon 1001displayed thereon is calculated, automatic parking may be performed, andwhen the parking path is not calculated, manual parking may beperformed.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating a method for providing a top viewimage of a parking space in some forms of the present disclosure.

The steering angle sensor 60 measures a steering angle depending ontravel of a vehicle (1101).

The top view image generator 20 generates a top view image of a parkingspace depending on the travel of the vehicle (1102).

The display 30 displays the top view image generated by the top viewimage generator 20 (1103).

The controller 70 captures the top view image displayed by the display30 (1104).

The controller 70 generates a panorama top view image by connecting thecurrent top view image generated by the top view image generator 20 andthe captured previous top view image, based on the steering anglemeasured by the steering angle sensor 60 (1105). At this time, thecontroller 70 may apply shading to the captured top view image of thepanorama top view image. That is, the controller 70 may divide thecaptured top view image into a plurality of areas and may differentlyshade the plurality of areas.

For example, the controller 70 may apply 20% shading to the capturedprevious top view image as a first step when the steering angle is lessthan 30 degrees and the distance from the vehicle is less than 10 m, mayapply 50% shading to the captured previous top view image as a secondstep when the steering angle is 30 degrees or more and the distance fromthe vehicle is more than 10 m and less than 20 m, and may apply 80%shading to the captured previous top view image as a third step when thedistance from the vehicle is 20 m or more. At this time, 100% shadingrepresents black by which an object in an image is unable to beidentified.

FIG. 12 is a block diagram illustrating a computing system for executingthe method for providing the top view image of the parking space in someforms of the present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 12, the method for providing the top view image of theparking space in some forms of the present disclosure may be implementedthrough the computing system. The computing system 1000 may include atleast one processor 1100, a memory 1300, a user interface input device1400, a user interface output device 1500, storage 1600, and a networkinterface 1700, which are connected with each other via a bus 1200.

The processor 1100 may be a central processing unit (CPU) or asemiconductor device that processes instructions stored in the memory1300 and/or the storage 1600. The memory 1300 and the storage 1600 mayinclude various types of volatile or non-volatile storage media. Forexample, the memory 1300 may include a ROM (Read Only Memory) 1310 and aRAM (Random Access Memory) 1320.

Thus, the operations of the method or the algorithm described in someforms of the present disclosure may be embodied directly in hardware ora software module executed by the processor 1100, or in a combinationthereof. The software module may reside on a storage medium (that is,the memory 1300 and/or the storage 1600) such as a RAM, a flash memory,a ROM, an EPROM, an EEPROM, a register, a hard disk, a removable disk,or a CD-ROM. The exemplary storage medium may be coupled to theprocessor 1100, and the processor 1100 may read information out of thestorage medium and may record information in the storage medium.Alternatively, the storage medium may be integrated with the processor1100. The processor 1100 and the storage medium may reside in anapplication specific integrated circuit (ASIC). The ASIC may residewithin a user terminal. In another case, the processor 1100 and thestorage medium may reside in the user terminal as separate components.

The apparatus and method for providing the top view image of the parkingspace in some forms of the present disclosure captures a top view imageof a parking space on a path along which a vehicle travels, and providesa panorama top view image by connecting the current top view image andthe previous top view image based on a steering angle depending on thetravel of the vehicle, thereby enabling a user to freely select not onlyan empty parking place on the current top view image but also an emptyparking place on the previous top view image.

Therefore, some forms of the present disclosure are provided to explainthe spirit and scope of the present disclosure, but not to limit them,so that the spirit and scope of the present disclosure is not limited bysome forms of the present disclosure. The scope of the presentdisclosure should be construed on the basis of the accompanying claims,and all the technical ideas within the scope equivalent to the claimsshould be included in the scope of the present disclosure.

The description of the disclosure is merely exemplary in nature and,thus, variations that do not depart from the substance of the disclosureare intended to be within the scope of the disclosure. Such variationsare not to be regarded as a departure from the spirit and scope of thedisclosure.

What is claimed is:
 1. An apparatus for providing a top view image of a parking space, the apparatus comprising: a steering angle sensor configured to measure a steering angle of a vehicle; a top view image generator configured to generate the top view image of the parking space depending on travel of the vehicle; a display configured to display the generated top view image; and a controller configured to: capture the top view image; and generate a panorama top view image by connecting the generated top view image and the captured top view image based on the measured steering angle.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to apply shading to the captured top view image of the panorama top view image.
 3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the controller is configured to: divide the captured top view image into a plurality of areas; and shade the plurality of areas differently.
 4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to control the display to display the generated panorama top view image.
 5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the apparatus further comprises: a motion detection sensor configured to detect a movement around an empty parking place.
 6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the controller is configured to control the display to additionally display a warning icon at a position on the panorama top view image that corresponds to the empty parking place around which the movement is detected by the motion detection sensor.
 7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to store the captured top view image in storage.
 8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the controller is configured to delete the stored top view image when a lifetime of the stored top view image exceeds a predetermined amount of time.
 9. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the controller is configured to delete the stored top view image when the vehicle travels a predetermined distance.
 10. A method for providing a top view image of a parking space, the method comprising: measuring, by a steering angle sensor, a steering angle depending on travel of a vehicle; generating, by a top view image generator, the top view image of the parking space depending on the travel of the vehicle; displaying, by a display, the generated top view image; capturing, by a controller, the top view image; and generating, by the controller, a panorama top view image by connecting the generated top view image and the captured top view image based on the measured steering angle.
 11. The method of claim 10, wherein the generating of the panorama top view image includes: applying, by the controller, shading to the captured top view image of the panorama top view image.
 12. The method of claim 11, wherein the applying of the shading includes: dividing, by the controller, the captured top view image into a plurality of areas; and shading, by the controller, the plurality of areas differently.
 13. The method of claim 10, wherein the method further comprises: displaying, by the display, the generated panorama top view image.
 14. The method of claim 13, wherein the method further comprises: detecting, by a motion detection sensor, a movement around an empty parking place; and displaying, by the display, a warning icon at a position on the panorama top view image that corresponds to the empty parking place around which the movement is detected.
 15. The method of claim 10, wherein the method further comprises: storing, by a storage, the captured top view image; and deleting, by the controller, the stored top view image when a lifetime of the stored top view image exceeds a predetermined amount of time.
 16. The method of claim 10, wherein the method further comprises: storing, by a storage, the captured top view image; and deleting, by the controller, the stored top view image when the vehicle travels a predetermined distance. 